"A Majority Of Bangladesh’s Garment Factories Are Vulnerable To Collapse"

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Photo via the AP

Three-fifths of Bangladesh’s garment factories are vulnerable to collapse, The Guardian reports. That figure comes from a survey by a team of engineers from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology who are conducting a visual survey of buildings, soil tests, and original plans. The team has thus far examined just a sixth of the 600 buildings housing more than 3,000 factories.

Although 60 percent of the buildings that the team has looked at are vulnerable, “This doesn’t mean they will collapse in the next week or month,” Professor Mehedi Andsary, who leads the team, told The Guardian, “but to leave them unchanged would be irresponsible.”

The Guardian visited another factory recently with 400 workers in it and found other concerning working conditions, including an obstructed stairwell, barred windows, and the removal of an external fire exit.

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